About McDaniels Law

At McDaniels Law, we're devotees of detail. We pore over every pixel, stitch and rivet. We revel in every chamfer, keystroke, strapline, trim and line break. We make a note of every soldered resistor, chiselled groove and chunk of code. All this, to provide you with impenetrable Intellectual Property protection.

Philosophy

At the core of our philosophy lies an understanding on how Intellectual Property can shape your brand and your business, and what that means to you.

Our dedication to your design, our commitment to your concept, our passion for your product. They're matched only by your own.

History

In 2005, Niall and Rozanna Head-Rapson opened a niche Intellectual Property practice in Newcastle, bringing a City flavour of legal services to the North East from their Magic Circle milieu.

Now, based in Gateshead's Northern Design Centre, neighbouring the banks of the iconic River Tyne, the growing team support our national reach and client base.

Experience

We acted for Talking Tables in trade mark infringement allegations against a large national retailer. On the patent side, the team acted for Pro Kaddy in a patent infringement claim related to battery-operated golf carts and assisted Embryonix with patent licenses.

Recent significant work in the copyright and design sphere includes acting for LSA in obtaining an interim injunction for copyright infringement and assisting Raft Furniture with unregistered design right infringement matters.

Areas of expertise:


  • Advertising - Dealing with issues raised by the process of advertising, dealing with the regulatory aspects, brand and copy clearance through to issues of trade mark infringement, defamation, malicious falsehood and comparative advertising.


  • Art and design - Focusing on protection, ownership, assignment and licensing and exploitation issues on both sides of the fence; acting for both the creators and those wishing to lawfully commercially exploit works.


  • Branding and brand management - Facilitating effective brand protection through our partnership with monitoring services to ensure that your brand is not diluted or infringed. We can intervene as necessary to prevent misuse. We are experts in the use of take-down notices, domain name challenges, and, as a last result, court proceedings.


  • Creative industry - We give cradle to grave advice from the inception of an idea through its evolution to fruition, including documenting the process, advising on the best exploitation methods and raising finance to support the product journey.


  • Furniture - Acting for a number of leading furniture designers and manufacturers, we have extensive experience in the wide range of issues which confront furniture manufacturers. From design origination, protection of those designs, dealing with overseas factories and transport, counterfeiting and unfair competition.


  • Online and social media - The issues surrounding digital and social media are intimately known to McDaniels Law. We advise on everything from the creation of websites and apps, all the way through to online trading and the use of social media as an advertising tool. We have significant experience in identifying infringement online and resolving such cases without the need for Court interference.


  • Science and invention -With graduate-level scientists, McDaniels Law acts for and understands not only the issues which surround science and invention but also understand the terminology. We get to grips with the issues quickly in a friendly and understanding way. Because of this, we get to the bottom of the issues clearly and concisely.  


  • Textiles, clothing and fashion - McDaniels Law act for well-known fashion brands, textile designers, surface pattern designers and retailers.  We understand the issues which surround the creation of new designs, implementation and protection of all design, branding, advertising, distribution and networking.